Search results for " EFFICIENCY"
showing 10 items of 1091 documents
Measuring technical efficiency of Greek red suckler cow breed's farms in Central Macedonia region using a data envelopment analysis model
2022
This study aims to estimate the technical efficiency (TE) of a randomly selected sample of red Greek suckler cow breed farms in the area of Central Macedonia and identify the most technically efficient characteristics of cow-calf operations. Moreover, this work wants to verify the impact of local and European policies in support of the sector on the estimated efficiency. The research investigates the technical efficiency of 64 suckler cow farms by using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. Findings reveal that the most efficient farms were larger, with higher gross revenue, and higher cost of fixed capital than non-efficient farms. In addition, the cost of variable capital, which dir…
A cost efficiency analysis of flood proofing measures for hydraulic risk mitigation in an Urbanized riverine area
2020
Non-structural measures for flood risk mitigation are often more economically accessible, easier to implement, and are highly effective, especially in view of the pursuit of risk resilience objectives. Among the non-structural measures, more importance is increasingly being attributed to flood proofing interventions. There are two main types of flood proofing: dry proofing and wet proofing. An example of dry proofing is shielding, which involves the use of flood barriers that can be installed in the entrances of buildings or outside the buildings in order to avoid contact with the houses and deviate the water flow. Their use must be supported by a detailed hydraulic analysis to ensure the c…
The influence of proper vine pruning techniques on crop formation and quality of the grapes
2018
We have established the importance of proper vine pruning techniques depending on individual grape variety characteristics and its influence on crop formation and quality of the grapes. The technique of studying the influence of the length of the vine pruning on the qualitative indices of the fruit of the grapes has been proposed. Field research was carried out in 2014-2016. Agricultural technology in the experiment is commonly used for forest-steppe. The vines are planted on the plot without irrigation, the shape of the shrubs is harp multy sleeved with a knot of substitution, sheltered on a vertical trellis of 1.5 m heigh. The methods that can be used to increase the yield of grape variet…
Preliminary Experimental Study on Double Fuel HCCI Combustion
2015
AbstractThis paper regards an experimental study on a particular internal combustion engine process which combines Double Fuel combustion with Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) using mixtures of natural gas (NG) and gasoline. The tests performed on a CFR engine demonstrate that HCCI combustion can be achieved using NG-gasoline mixtures without knocking occurrence for low to medium engine load varying the proportion between the two fuels. The main advantage of this new combustion process relies on the noticeable higher engine efficiency obtained with respect to conventional spark ignition operation, and on the strong reduction of NOX emissions.
The use of constructed wetlands for the treatment of agro-industrial wastewater – A case study in a dairy-cattle farm in Sicily (Italy)
2017
Wastewaters generated by agro-industrial operations often represent an unsustainable cost for farms due to high wastewater-treatment management costs. The wastewater produced by dairies, wineries or oil mills may vary in quantity and in quality depending on the time of the year, making the use of a conventional treatment system less efficient and more costly. Constructed wetland systems (CWs) provide low-cost technology and an efficient solution in the treatment of a number of wastewaters from agriculture. They are simple to build, have low maintenance costs and are sustainable compared to conventional treatment methods. This paper shows a case study that was carried out on a dairy-cattle f…
Considerations about an indicator aimed at describing the energy efficiency of buildings with innovative envelope components at different climatic co…
2020
Green roofs are building components that have become increasingly common in urban contexts because other than the general improvement of the aesthetics of the buildings equipped with them, they have demonstrated to positively improve the building energy performance. Consequently, it would be useful for technicians to have easy and reliable indicators to achieve a synthetic quantitative judgement about the effectiveness of green roofs by an energy perspective compared to others building envelope technologies, for different climates. In sight of the definition of such an indicator, or at least of its properties, some considerations aimed at this purpose, especially concerning the use of new c…
Green vs Traditional Roofs: Assessing their Actual Benefits through an Integrated Indicator Developed for Cool Roofs
2020
Green roofs have caught on in cities, mainly because contribute positively to thermal behaviour of buildings equipped with them. This paper investigates the applicability to these roofs of an integrated indicator, developed by Levinson and Akbari, to assess the contribution of cool roofs to buildings’ energy consumption. A building, assumed as the reference for the Italian medium size offices, was considered and its energy performance with and without the green roof was assessed. Different sites with different climatic conditions were considered for the simulations. First results indicate that such indicator does not seem to be completely transferable to green roofs.
Enhancing values of roofs albedo for lowering cities’ air temperature and electric demand of buildings: a simple economic evaluation
2019
Abstract In cities vegetated roofs are becoming more popular because they can mitigate Urban Heat Island phenomena by decreasing the outdoor air temperature in summer. This decrease reduces the electric energy demand for climatization of buildings, which, in front of a milder climate, will recur less to mechanical tools for guaranteeing thermal comfort conditions to occupants. Cities can registered another indirect positive effect: the reduced cooling energy demand, limits the heat released by the climatization systems’ external unities toward the urban open spaces, thus lowering the outdoor air temperature. Therefore, the outdoor surface temperature of green, as well as cool roofs, can be …
Degradation of Antibiotic Vancomycin by UV Photolysis and Pulsed Corona Discharge Combined with Extrinsic Oxidants
2023
Antibiotics are the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals in the environment creating conditions for the development of resistant genes in bacteria. Degradation and mineralization of glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin (VMN) were examined by UV photolysis, pulsed corona discharge (PCD), and their combinations with extrinsic oxidants, hydrogen peroxide (HP), peroxydisulfate (PDS), and peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Both combinations were effective in VMN degradation and faster at pH 11 than in acidic or neutral media. Combined with the UV photolysis, HP showed a higher oxidation rate than other oxidants, whereas PMS and PDS proved to be more efficient in combinations with PCD. In contrast to low…
Water-use efficiency and transpiration across European forests during the Anthropocene
2015
Considering the combined effects of CO2 fertilization and climate change drivers on plant physiology leads to a modest increase in simulated European forest transpiration in spite of the effects of CO2-induced stomatal closure. The Earth’s carbon and hydrologic cycles are intimately coupled by gas exchange through plant stomata1,2,3. However, uncertainties in the magnitude4,5,6 and consequences7,8 of the physiological responses9,10 of plants to elevated CO2 in natural environments hinders modelling of terrestrial water cycling and carbon storage11. Here we use annually resolved long-term δ13C tree-ring measurements across a European forest network to reconstruct the physiologically driven r…